Scam Alert: Provider Victimized By Telephone Fraud

Clearwater, Fla.

Most people active on the Internet have seen the spammed e-mails about a Nigerian prince promising rich reward in exchange for a relatively small payment mailed to a mysterious overseas address. These so-called “419 scams,” named after the penal code prohibiting them in Nigeria, have traditionally preyed on individuals. But now, 419 scammers have begun preying on businesses of all types — including HME providers. And instead of using the Internet, scammers are using TTY lines for the hearing impaired, which makes their calls untraceable.

“[One caller using a TTY line] wanted to purchase all of our blood pressure monitors,” said Sandy Jones, owner of Austin Respiratory in Clearwater, adding that the caller said the monitors were needed right away. In late June, Austin sold the caller all the monitors she had, charged the caller’s credit card for $600 and, after signing a $300 UPS bill, sent a large package overnight to Africa. She had sold equipment to immigrants before who sent products overseas, she said, so why should this be any different?

Shortly after, the bank that issued the credit card alerted Jones that she had been a victim of fraud and, because the criminal was at large overseas, her company would have to pay back the bank. According to authorities, the blood pressure monitors Jones sent off are now most likely being sold on the Nigerian black market.

“These poor vendors are trying to make a living,” said John Joyce, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Tampa bureau, “and they’re getting beaten by this scam.” Extremely large orders, often for a vendor’s entire stock of a particular product, should send up warning flags, he said, adding that the scammers frequently say they need the entire order shipped overnight, often to Nigeria. “It’s a huge problem in the U.S., [and it’s an] international problem.”

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